Book inspires student-led effort at East Richland Elementary School

East Richland Elementary School fifth-graders in Gwyne Doll's class had a request for their teacher: they wanted to do something to help the people of Sudan.

The idea came after reading this year's One Book One Community book, "A Long Walk To Water," which is based on the true story of Salva Dut, who was in charge of 1,500 boys who traveled more than 1,000 miles out of Sudan in 1985 during the country's civil war.

Along with East Richland Middle School, the 23 fifth-graders have a goal of raising $5,000 by the end of April that will be donated to the nonprofit organization Water for South Sudan, which was founded by Dut in 2003. The group helps build wells for people in southern Sudan.

Student Taylor Ferguson said $1,263.58 has been raised since the class' Water for Sudan project kicked off last Thursday. The class collects money in empty milk jugs daily from classrooms and will be asking local businesses and the community for help as well, said student Levi Seitzinger.

A preschool student brought in more than $100 and fifth-grader Jack Bettis donated $75 that he received on his birthday.

If the class meets its goal, they will be able to have the school's name engraved on a water well. But even they don't meet the goal, the class still plans to donate the money and possibly combine the proceeds with another school.

They were inspired by the book and said Dut's father contracted a disease after drinking some water in Sudan.

"It means a lot to us to start this. It means a lot to us to help out," said student Jamie Tracy.

The fifth-graders have been learning about Sudan and are full of information about the troubled African nation.

The water in Sudan is usually contaminated with parasites and disease-bearing bacteria. South Sudanese travel miles a day to get water.

They collect approximately 5 gallons of water a day compared to the more than 250 gallons Americans have each day, said student Blake Mitchell. In one month, Sudanese drink approximately 155 gallons of water while Americans consume about 4,000 gallons.

Sudanese also live on the equivalent of $1 a day and eat one meal a day.

The survival rate of infants in South Sudan is only 61 in 1,000 and one in five children under the age of 5 die from drinking contaminated water.

The average lifespan in the country is 54 years.

"The water we drink we take for granted," said student Tessa Hemrich, noting how water is untreated in Sudan. The class has also learned that when wells are built in South Sudan towns and villages, schools, hospitals and markets are more likely to be built. More children are able to get an education.